Decision to reduce Russian classes in schools leads to debate in Armenia

A July decision by the Armenian Government to reduce mandatory Russian classes in schools has led to debate in the country, after a report by Sputnik Armenia suggested Armenia may intend to phase out compulsory Russian from schools entirely.

On Friday, the Russian state-owned news agency published a report about the decision citing anonymous teachers and education specialists.

The report was misinterpreted by some online who thought the government was completely removing Russian language from its state curricula, with some criticising this and others celebrating it.

Sputnik was citing a July directive instructing schools to allow students their choice of languages to learn in two separate foreign language courses, instead of having their first foreign language course default to Russian.

The changes apply to most grades between the second and tenth grades, while grades 4, 9, 11, and 12 will continue to learn Russian as a first foreign language.

In an interview with Sputnik Armenia, education expert Serob Khachatryan argued that the ministry’s directive was not ‘significant’, citing the general education state standard adopted in 2021, which made Russian language classes mandatory.

According to the standard, Russian is a mandatory subject for all students between the second and twelfth grades, with students being allowed to choose at least one more foreign language to study as of the third grade.

Khachatryan noted that the ministry’s directive would not allow schools to completely remove Russian from their curricula, despite making it optional. He said that schools are still obliged to allocate at least two hours a week to each foreign language course.

Sputnik Armenia also interviewed several anonymous Russian language teachers who expressed concern that the number of Russian lessons would be reduced over the years until the subject’s complete removal from Armenian curricula. 

Battle for education

The debate around the number of Russian language classes in Armenian schools is not the only point of contention between Russia and Armenia in the field of education.

In August Armenia’s Education Ministry announced it was removing mentions of Russia’s annexation of Armenia from a history textbook following complaints from Sputnik Armenia and Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

Russia has also long pushed for an increase in the number of Russian medium schools in the country; Civilnet has reported that there are three Russian state-owned schools in Armenia. According to the Armenian Education Ministry, 46 Armenian schools teach in Russian, while at least 60 language schools providing advanced Russian classes.

In October 2023, Russian MPs decided to indefinitely postpone discussions of recognising Armenian driving licences used for work purposes. Russian Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the decision was related to Russian language having no ‘official status’ in Armenia, as well as recent decisions running contrary to the development of such relations. 

It comes amidst deteriorating relations between the two countries, and Armenia’s ratification of the International Criminal Court’s Rome Statute despite the Kremlin warning that it would have ‘the most negative consequences for bilateral relations’.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly asserted that the Education Ministry first issued the directive making changes to Russian-language learning in 2023. The decision came in July 2024.

Read in Russian on SOVA.News.